The True Gold Standard (Second Edition)
It´s Back to Work, Clear the Beaches
What Happens at the beach Stays at the beach...in China. Beidaihe is sort of a Hamptons for the Chinese top leadership -- and for Russian tourists and the People's Liberation Army. It's where deals get done and new leaders get selected. "Celebrity sightings used to be part of the fun in Beidaihe, the summertime retreat of the Chinese Communist Party," the Los Angeles Times' Barbara Demick has written, "Nowadays, the presence of the Chinese leadership is viewed primarily in fleeting shadows through tinted glass, as their black Audis glide past stifling security roadblocks. The leaders remain secluded in their enclave, with their own beaches, their own restaurants and their own gardeners and cleaners who come from Beijing. Locals are rarely hired or admitted into the compound." Don't look for transparency in Chinese government decision-making. "The Chinese hierarchy is well aware that Beidaihe can convey an impression of elitism. In 2003, President Hu Jintao canceled the retreat, in part a public relations ploy to show that the leadership was giving up its perks and in part to minimize the meddling of his predecessor, Jiang Zemin, who thrived in Beidaihe's smoky, backroom ambience. Later, the tradition resumed; the party elders simply feeling a need to decamp somewhere away from the prying eyes of Beijing. These days, who is coming and going at Beidaihe, along with the weightiest matters of governance, is a state secret." The next generation of Chinese leaders was chosen at the resort in August — where stormy weather disturbed the pristine streets. What is less certain is the next generation of Chinese economic policies. Like the Chinese elite, Chinese economic policy seems unaccountable to anyone or anything else. The Financial Times' Katherine Hille noted: “candidates that stand out in terms of their policy profile or have a more unconventional biography have all but lost the chance of getting a seat in the next standing committee.” The forecast for the Chinese economy have dropped repeatedly this year. The Wall Street Journal has reported that “China´s growth for 2012 could fall to as little as 3%, well below the government’s target of 7.5% growth.” But don´t look to those Chinese leaders to prime the pump. “The latest batch of weak economic data from China is piling pressure on Beijing to act fast to shore up an economy that is slowing faster than expected, but experts say there are plenty of reasons why any stimulus might not come soon.” reported CNBC´s Dhara Ranasinghe. The beaches may be emptying, but the world´s surf may soon get rougher.
America recently celebrated — well, maybe we didn’t celebrate – the 80th anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt’s action to end to the gold standard. But America is also celebrating – well, maybe not everyone is celebrating – the 100th anniversary of the legislation creating the Federal Reserve System.
As Lewis E. Lehrman...
Constitution.org provides an extensive and thoughtful Memorandum of Law by Larry Becraft, Esq., of Huntsville, Alabama, on Article I, Section 10, clause 1 of the US Constitution.
Sir William Blackstone courtesy of Wikipedia
One of many interesting matters the Memorandum treats is Blackstone's Commentaries, a book that was a fixture in the...
In the spring of 1933, global trade was being undermined by nationalistic economic responses to the Great Depression, including currency...
Jul 19, 2011
Key Monetary Writings
Dollars and Sense: Proven Principles of Economic and Fiscal Sanity
Excerpt: Monetary Reform
Even apart from the demographic challenge that faces the United States, the American family budget has...
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Kathleen M. Packard, Publisher The Gold Standard Now
Board of Advisors: Senior Advisors Sean Fieler, James Grant, Senior European Advisor Advisors In Memoriam
Breaking News
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George Gilder, whose new book publishes today, is one of the original pillars of Supply Side economics. As stated by Discovery Institute, which he co-founded, “Mr. Gilder pioneered the formulation of supply-side economics when he served as Chairman of the Lehrman Institute’s Economic Roundtable, as Program Director for the Manhattan Institute….”
Lately we have been engulfed by headlines reporting financial turmoil on every continent, in almost every nation, large and small. The commissars of central planning who so marred the history of the 20th century have been replaced by central banks in the 21st. In Cyprus, the new leadership now dares to confiscate citizens’ wealth with a one-time tax of up to 60 percent on bank deposits above 100,000 euros. Self-interested prime ministers blame continental monetary policies for instigating the currency wars that they themselves surreptitiously carry on.